Transforming Keighley step by step

Labour councillor Caroline Firth reflects on the positive changes underway and on the horizon

I often think about what I’d fund in Keighley and Ilkley if someone offered me a million pounds to spend, no strings attached. Sometimes I think about how I could spend it on social housing, especially after speaking to someone who’s battling with hundreds of other applicants to escape their overcrowded home. Other times I think about how the money could be used to fund playground upgrades or to install speed bumps in antisocial-driving hotspots.

There’s a strategic board in Keighley that’s pondering all of that and more – and it has £33.6 million in government money to invest in the town, plus a recently announced further £20 million to spend over 10 years.

The initial windfall is for buildings and brick-and-mortar projects – and it’s been consulted on heavily with residents, businesses and community groups. The schemes, which are decided by the board and managed by Bradford Council, are aimed at regeneration – bringing footfall into the town, shoring up community buildings, strengthening the cultural offer and improving employability – particularly in our manufacturing sector, which has been running out of affordable land.

Elsewhere, culture-boosting schemes include a changing places loo at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, a visitor centre at Keighley Railway Station, funding for Keighley Arts and Film Festival and a new creative arts hub.

Keighley Community Health and Wellbeing Centre

The long-awaited health and wellbeing centre has probably proved the most controversial project on the list – namely, lots of people have had very different ideas about where it should be built.

I am firmly for it, no matter where it goes. Not only does a health hub in the centre of town provide essential, easily accessible services, but research also shows that it delivers knock-on benefits like additional footfall via staff and patients who then spend their money in shops and cafes. For me, it’s a no-brainer – but it’s not all about the money.

People in affluent areas, such as Ilkley, can expect to have 21 more years of good health than those in the least affluent areas, such as central Keighley. That gap must be closed. Everything points to better health outcomes if people can get to appointments while already out and about in a town.

Keighley development framework

There’s a lot going on, but there’s so much more to do. For instance, Keighley has a development framework that has ambitiously set the scene for how the town might develop – regenerate – over the next 20 years. It shows how Keighley is fertile ground for investors from both the public and private sectors.

Elements of the framework that I find exciting include plans to create a new country park in Marley and developing better travel links to and between our heritage assets.

It also nods to the town’s limited leisure and night-time economy offer, showing that there are opportunities there for the taking. We must talk up Keighley and make it the obvious place to start a business. People talking the place down at home and in Westminster are its worst enemies.

The importance of a diverse community network

I am chair of the Keighley and Ilkley Area Committee, which discusses, scrutinises and decides on topics from where to put double-yellow lines to how the council reacts to fly-tipping. Key for me among all this strategic work is having a resilient, diverse community network. I see every day how community centres, charities and community leaders provide something of a lifeline for people who need a bit of help, advice or even just a chat.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve helped out at Hainworth Wood Community Centre’s Halloween party, where 50 kids dressed up for a fun couple of hours, then went home fed and happy. On another evening, I joined East Morton Village Society to discuss everything from flooding to roads. Then there was a chilly Saturday spent with residents in Stockbridge who have been clearing a snicket that’s become a fly-tipping hotspot. Councillors and council officers have worked with them, sorting a litter pick and cutting of vegetation.

This teamwork and relationships that underpin community resilience don’t just happen by chance. They’re a result of years of hard work building up trust. For our part, we spend hours with people, doing practical tasks alongside them, talking about their concerns, investigating issues and ultimately working with them to get problems sorted.

Working together is crucial because the council can’t and shouldn’t be all things to all people. Public-sector budgets across the country are stretched (although green shoots are appearing), meaning that services people once expected either don’t exist anymore or come with additional costs. That’s been a shock to everyone and we’re all still coming to terms with the new normal. But it’s why building community networks and empowering people to take personal responsibility is crucial.

Keighley and Ilkley area committee

Bradford Council’s Keighley and Ilkley area coordinator’s office is where the action is at. We have an area coordinator for the whole constituency, who oversees the ward office, which is made up of ward officers, assistant ward officers, wardens and the youth service.

Today, on Tuesday 4 November, a 54-page document detailing the work of the ward office over the past year will be presented to the council’s executive. It’s crammed with success stories that we don’t shout about enough because people just quietly get on with it.

It includes Keighley Vibe at Parkwood Young People’s Centre, a project run by the youth service that gives six months of informal support to young adults who need to overcome employment barriers. It has massively improved young people’s engagement with job seeking.

The Keighley and Ilkley Area Committee also decides which applications for local council grants are successful. One of the highlights in the latest round was allocating £7,250 to Highfield Community Association, The Good Shepherd Centre, The Hive, Oxenhope Community Association and others to pay some of their building costs over a two-year period (£5,000 in year one and £2,250 in year two).

Elsewhere, Keighley Lions was given a Community Chest grant to buy hi-vis jackets so they can carry on doing their Santa sleighs in villages throughout the town. We’ve also supported an Ilkley Manor House exhibition, a darts event, a children’s theatre trip and so much more.

So, returning to my first thought, if I personally had the money, I’d spend my million on projects that build community cohesion because these initiatives are the lifeblood of our communities – and delivered by local people, often with some support from the council. Work like this brings all sorts of individuals together at a time when too many people are trying to divide us. That can only be a very good thing.